


Family Matters

by annaxmims



Series: Tumblr Prompts [78]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Adoption, Angst with a Happy Ending, Buck is a Good Dad, Dad Evan "Buck" Buckley, Feels, M/M, Married Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz, Only Child Syndrome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:47:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24984076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annaxmims/pseuds/annaxmims
Summary: Tumblr Prompt:Could you do a story where Buck and Eddie want to expand their family and Chris doesn't want them to forget about him, so he starts acting out whenever the topic is brought up? Could either be Mpreg or adoption. Chris is upset because he thinks that because his Buck would have his own kid that he wouldn't need to love him anymore. They finally find out when Chris throws a tantrum while at a Team Cookout and Hen tells them how Denny acted the same way before Nia. Thanks ❤❤.
Relationships: Christopher Diaz & Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Evan "Buck" Buckley & Christopher Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Series: Tumblr Prompts [78]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1626286
Comments: 2
Kudos: 280





	Family Matters

Buck fiddled nervously with his phone, staring at the little picture on his screen.

“You’re jittery,” Eddie commented. His husband had a knack for pointing out the obvious.

“I’m nervous. We’re kind of ambushing Chris. What if he isn’t happy?”

“He will be. It might take some time for him to adjust, but it’s all going to work out okay?”

Buck jumped at the sound of a car door, “Now or never.”

Eddie rubbed his shoulder, then went to meet Carla and his son at the door.

“Hi mijo,” Eddie hugged him tight. “How was school?”

“Good. Where’s Buck?”   


“Living room. Go put you backpack up and then go see him. We have something we need to talk to you about.”

Christopher’s brow furrowed behind his glasses, but he nodded and did as he was told.

“You finally decided it was time?” Carla asked.

“We got the official go ahead today so yeah. It will be awhile before the whole process is finished but if we’re lucky, he’ll be living with us by Christmas.”

“I think Chris will be excited.”

“I hope so. He’s been an only child for almost ten years though. This is probably going to be a little bit of a culture shock for him.”

“It’s going to take some adjusting but you two can handle it,” Carla patted his cheek reassuringly. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Eddie nodded, and Carla gave him one last smile before calling a goodbye to Christopher and Buck and slipping out the door. Eddie steeled himself before going back into the living room.

Chris was curled up in the chair with Buck, talking animatedly about something that had happened at school. Eddie sat down on the couch in time to catch the tail end of the story.

“Then the bottle exploded and Charlie had paint all over him. He got most of it off but his hair was still stained pink.”

“Poor Charlie,” Buck said with a poorly contained laugh.

“I helped him clean up and he shared his chocolate with me at lunch,” Chris proclaimed proudly.

“That was nice of both of you buddy,” Eddie said. “Did you say thank you?”   


“Yeah I did,” Christopher paused. “Daddy am I in trouble?”   


“Of course not. Why would you think that?”

“You said that you needed to talk to me,” Christopher chewed his thumb nail nervously and Buck pulled his hand away from his mouth gently, linking their fingers. “That means something bad happened.”

“No it doesn’t,” Eddie moved to kneel in front of him. “This is good news. I promise.”

Christopher nodded and Buck took his hand away to pull up a picture on his phone.

“Who’s that?” he asked, taking the phone to inspect the photo more closely.

“His name is Liam. He’s your little brother.”

“My brother?” Chris furrowed his eyebrows again.

“Your dad and I talked for a long time about wanting another kid,” Buck explained. “We’re adopting Liam and he’s going to be a part of our family.”

“Like when Hen adopted Nia,” Eddie clarified.

“Oh. Is that it?”

“Yeah,” Eddie said slowly.

“Okay,” Christopher pushed himself to stand up, steadying himself on the arm of the chair while he arranged his crutches. “I have a lot of homework.”

“Okay buddy. Go ahead then,” Buck said.

He and Eddie exchanged confused glances behind his back.

“What was that about?” Buck asked when he was out of earshot.

“I have no idea.”

*****

“He just said okay and walked off,” Buck said.

“He didn’t have any emotions at all,” Eddie scrubbed a hand across his face.

“Denny threw a fit when we told him we were adopting Nia,” Hen said. 

“I think a fit would be better than whatever that was. I thought he would be excited,” Eddie sighed.

“I’m sure he will. He just needs some time to come around. He’s been an only child and the center of attention for his whole life, it’s a big change for him.”

Buck nodded, “I guess you’re right. I’m just worried that there’s something going on that he’s not telling us about.”

“Christopher doesn’t keep secrets from you guys. If something is going on he’ll tell you.”

“I hope so.”

*****

“Chris come on. We’re going to be late.”

“Coming.”

“What is going on with him today?” Buck asked.

“I don’t know. He’s been in a mood since he woke up but he won’t talk to me.”

“Sweet lord I hope this isn’t a sneak peek of his teenage years.”

“Don’t say that. I’m nowhere near prepared for that.”

Finally Christopher appeared from his room and joined them in the living room. Being on crutches, he wasn’t fast on a good day, but for some reason he was dragging his feet more than normal.

They filed out the door to the truck and Buck went to help Chris into the backseat.

“I can do it. I’m not a baby,” he snapped.

Buck stepped back, holding his hands up in surrender, “Okay kiddo.”

Chris huffed and hauled himself into the backseat, pulling his crutches in behind him.

“Check your attitude,” Eddie scolded, glancing at his son in the rearview mirror.

“Sorry Buck.”

“It’s okay buddy.”

He snuck Eddie a glance when he wasn’t looking. Something was definitely going on with him.

When they arrived at Bobby’s Chris didn’t talk to anyone. He skirted past all the adults and sat down with Denny and Harry, but didn’t say much to them either.

“Is he okay?” Bobby asked.

“He’s been in a mood all morning. I have no idea what’s going on.”

“It must be going around. Denny has been grumpy today too,” Hen commented. “Maybe some food and sunshine will fix it.”

“I hope so. Or someone is going to have to take Christopher home with them,” Eddie said. “I don’t know how much more of that attitude I can take.”

Hen was partially right. Denny was in good spirits by the time they called them in to wash up, but his good mood had apparently not rubbed off on Chris. He sat between Buck and Eddie, picking at his food. When Eddie asked, he claimed he wasn’t hungry. Eddie knew he was being difficult because he’d used the same excuse at breakfast, but he didn’t argue.

Bobby made a mistake when he brought up the baby.

“How’s the adoption process going?”

“Smooth so far, but I’m trying not to jinx it,” Buck said. “But our social worker told us we might have him home by Thanksgiving instead of Christmas, but not to get our hopes too high.”

“How old is he?” Karen questioned.

“He just turned three. His birthday is in August.”

“So he’s just a little younger than Nia.”

Buck nodded, “Nia will finally have someone to play with. We all know the boys are too busy with their own games to play with the babies.”

“Babies aren’t fun,” Harry said.

“But we can play with Liam when he’s older right?” Denny asked.

“Of course.”

“Christopher are you excited?” Maddie questioned, turning the attention to her nephew for the first time.

Eddie was shocked when he shook his head no.

“Chris what do you mean?”

“I mean I don’t want a stupid baby,” he shouted.

Everyone blinked in surprise. No one had ever heard Christopher have an outburst like that before.

He knew immediately he screwed up and the tears started to well up at the look on Eddie’s face. He clenched his jaw to keep his temper under control and leveled his son with a look.

“Go inside and calm down. He’ll talk about this later,” he kept his voice low and even, which was even scarier than if he had yelled.

Christopher sniffed, trying to keep the tears under control and stood up. Buck helped him with his crutches and watched him until he disappeared into the house.

“So that’s what’s wrong with him,” he sighed.

Eddie nodded solemnly.

“I’ve never seen Christopher act like that before,” Maddie was still shocked. “This must really be bothering him.”

The mood had shifted as everyone continued eating. Buck pushed his food around on his plate, his appetite gone.

“I’m going to talk to him,” he said when he couldn’t stand it anymore.

“Do you want me to come?” Eddie asked.

“No. If you go in there right now he won’t tell us anything because he’s going to be afraid of getting in trouble. I know he needs to be disciplined for that outburst, but let me find out what’s wrong first and we’ll go from there.”

Eddie nodded his agreement and Buck kissed him on the head before going inside to find Christopher. 

He hadn’t gone far. He was curled up on the ground behind the couch, like he was hiding.

“Hey kiddo,” Buck sat down on the floor next to him, maneuvering his legs into a comfortable position.

“I’m sorry,” Christopher said. His voice was thick with unshed tears.

“I know you are,” Buck wrapped an arm around him.

“Am I in trouble?”

“Your dad is going to handle that later. That’s not why I’m here.”

Christopher turned his head to look up at him.

“You wanna tell me why you were so upset? I know something has been bothering you, but you won’t tell your daddy or me about it. We just want to help you.”

Christopher pressed his head against his shoulder and mumbled something unintelligible.

“You’re gonna have to speak up kiddo. Your Buck is old and hard of hearing.”

That made Christopher crack a smile, but it left as soon as he spoke again.

“You don’t want me anymore.”

“What? Why would you think that?”

“Because you want another baby. And this baby is gonna be yours. You won’t need to love me.”

“Christopher,” Buck squeezed him so tight he thought he might break him. “That is not true at all okay? I have loved you since way before I married your dad. You might not be mine biologically but you are in all of the ways that count. You will always be my son, no matter what. Just because your dad and I want another baby, doesn’t mean either of us love you any less. You’re my first child and that makes you special okay?”

“Okay,” Christopher shifted to wrap his arms around his waist. “Bucky?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think the baby will like me?”

“Of course he will. He’s gonna need his big brother to teach him about life and dinosaurs and science.”

“I can do that.”

“I know you can,” Buck kissed his curls.

“I’m gonna be grounded aren’t I?”

“Probably,” Buck chuckled. “But I might be able to sweet talk your dad into shortening your sentence.”

*****

In the end Buck did convince Eddie to shorten Christopher’s grounding, though not much talking was going on while he did it.

They had their second son in their home by Thanksgiving and it took about two days for Christopher to be wrapped around his finger.

“We have pretty amazing kids,” Eddie said, running his fingers through Buck’s hair.

“Yeah we do,” Buck snuggled in closer as they watched Christopher show all of his dinosaur toys to Liam, explaining their names and what they ate in detail.

Obviously he had no idea what he was saying, but he watched his big brother with unwavering attention, making grabby hands at the brightly colored toys. Christopher gave him a few to play with and they sat together on the rug, Liam giggling every time Chris imitated their roars. 


End file.
